FINLAND: The Other Side of Hope (Toivon tuolla puolen)

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The Other Side of Hope is a bittersweet tale of human kindness in the face of official indifference.

This wry, melancholic comedy from Finnish legend Aki Kaurismäki (The Man Without a Past, Le Havre, Leningrad Cowboys Go America), a clear-eyed response to the current refugee crisis, follows two people searching for a place to call home. Displaced Syrian Khaled (Sherwan Haji) lands in Helsinki as a stowaway; meanwhile, middle-aged shirt salesman Wikström (Sakari Kuosmanen) abruptly leaves his prickly wife and unfulfilling job and buys a conspicuously unprofitable seafood restaurant, which he tries to turn into a success with a hilarious series of culinary re-inventions. After Khaled is denied asylum, he decides not to return to Aleppo, staying on illegally in Helsinki—and the paths of the two men cross fortuitously, with unexpected results. Winner of the Silver Bear for Best Director at the 2017 Berlin International Film Festival. (Partially subtitled)